Wiley's Story

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Our beautiful,
brilliant, blue heeler/border collie boy Wiley was preliminarily diagnosed with
Degenerative Myelpathy today, a terminal disease that affects his spinal cord
and the nerve/muscular system of his hind quarters. The nerve connections are
dying. Eventually he will become completely paralyzed. It is most equivalent to
MS in humans.

My heart and soul
has only felt this devastatingly heartbroken and battered once, the day my
brother had to make that dreaded phone call across the country to tell me that
our wonderful, loving father had suffered a heart attack and died. I don’t wish
this feeling on anyone.

It all began a few weeks ago at the start of November.We started to notice that Wiley seemed to be jumping up into our trucks
and our bed awkwardly on occasion. I had a vacation to Maine planned to see
family and left though for two weeks without any worry or second thought. About
half way through my vacation on Monday, November 14th, I received a frantic call from my husband.
Wiley had pooped all over the backseat/floor of my truck. This was not like him
at all. The very next day he called me again, this time it was in the house.
Very unusual, but he is a mama's boy so we thought he was having separation anxiety.
He also was acting very strange not wanting to perform his tricks, his ears
were always down; he didn’t want to play or chase the cats. Separation anxiety
seemed reasonable. But it also seemed like he was maybe having trouble sitting
and jumping as well. That seemed odd and not really related.Nov. 17-

Upon my return on
November 21st he seemed happy to see me but I could tell that something wasn't
right. His back legs, particularly the right one seemed to be acting odd and
was always in funny positions. While running outside it was like the front half
of him was his usual speeding bullet Wiley self, but his back half couldn't
keep up. He still was having trouble sitting and jumping. We did some initial
research and thought it might be arthritis as a result of hip dysplasia, which
can happen in border collies.

We decided it was
definitely time to call Dr. Steve. Of course, it was Thanksgiving week and he
was booked until the following Tuesday, November 29th. Wiley did seem a lot
better attitude wise so we decided to wait to see our holistic vet instead of
trying squeeze him in to somewhere else. The vet could not replicate any pain and therefore
ruled out spinal injury. He
recognized the flip flopping foot signs, performed some easy tests and kindly
told us about DM. He asked us to do our research, gave some suggestions and
asked that we regroup in a few days. It is due to DM that Wiley is losing
control of his leg functions therefore making it hard for him to get into poop
stance, so he was getting all full-up and it was literally falling out in the
house and car. I bring him outside regularly now and encourage him to go, and
well so far we haven’t had any other accidents. Poor thing has to do this
walking poop thing though and he now pees more like a girl, rather than lift
his leg.

I still have so
much more research to do from compared to what I actually did that initial
night, and I need to make a list of questions for the doc. I had to stop
after a while on that first night and I just haven't gone back to that black
and white reality yet. It is and was just so incredibly raw to realize how awful this really is.
Incurable. One of these days his tail is going to stop wagging. Simply crushing
news.

Nov. 30- We really noticed his paw flipping over on this right leg and his not
being able to correct it. His paw also really drags on the driveway. We now
lift him onto the bed and into the trucks. Found some poop in the hallway.

Have been doing
lots of research, DM is horrible and we are so heartbroken.

Dec. 2- We noticed his left leg was now acting more like the right and flipping
etc. In the morning Wiley seemed very depressed, he came to the office with me
like usual and just lied in the corner. He didn’t follow me around, he just
wasn't himself. Very sad. His legs are now kinda bouncing off each other when
he walks and when he comes up the step they usually whack off it. We went out
just before dark however and he became very playful. He wanted to fetch the
tennis ball and was hunting chipmunks around the woodpile for quite some time.
His tail was wagging high!!

We came inside
and he ate the handful of kibbles that were in his bowl and I gave him a half a
piece of the cheese slice I was eating. 5 minutes later he puked it up. Later
when I fed him dinner, which was later than usual around 8ish- He again puked
it up shortly after. This time he likely puked up his nightly dose of
supplements too since they were in his food.

Dec. 3- Good temperament today. He had to be alone for several hours but I saw
his head poke in the window when he heard me pull in and open the garage. That
was a good sign that he was himself. We skipped the supplements this morning
since we were leaving and didn’t want puke lying around. We will give him some
with dinner and see how it goes. I sat down with him and gave him a very
thorough brushing, something that he loves but I admit we had been neglecting
on a regular basis. Not anymore. He loved it and layer there just soaking up
the pleasure. If I paused for an instant that front paw reminded me to get back
to work. First he stood standing but then I had him lay down on his side and he
just closed his eyes and enjoyed. I had to help roll him over to do the other
side. Tonight he was playing with his toys, chasing the cats and following me
around the house again. This makes me smile.

I noticed that he
no longer rolls over onto his back for his belly to be scratched. He also no
longer jumps up on the futon couch (he is not allowed on the other couches) to
pretend he is a lapdog and smother me with kisses. As a matter of fact the last
time that happened was the night before I left for Maine. My theory is that the
separation anxiety lowered his immune system and accelerated the beginning
stages of the DM. It is hard not to hold some guilt for that, but at the same
time I can also believe that it actually helped us diagnose very early so now
we can do some things about it to hold it off and make sure he is comfortable.
There is some peace that this is not a painful disease.

The one thing I
could always be thankful for in regards to my Dad's death was that he died
quickly and didn’t suffer, he didn't need to be attached to machines. We didn’t
have to face any difficult decisions. However, we were all aware of his wishes;
No plugs, no vegetable attached to a machine, no suffering. We also knew that
he wanted his organs donated. We were surprised and unprepared for such a
tragic thing but I was relieved to not have had a drawn out situation. Once
again I find myself very surprised, but I must prepare myself for what is to
come and face it with courage and strength. We will never let Wiley suffer.

Dec. 4 - I have only had one crying spell so far today; I made it until about
3:30 and through three quarters of Joni Mitchell's Blue album before I lost it.
Wiley and I danced and hugged and cried together. It has been a rough few days.
I had some busy stuff for work that kept me very busy and immediately
distracted for those first couple days and nights, but when that ended Thursday
night, I awoke at 5:45 am Friday to be completely reminded of my sorrow and my
animal child's disability. My husband and I, who also have not been able to see
each other during this busy time due to opposite schedules, sat down with Wiley
and cried and hugged each other. We both agreed you could see in Wiley's eyes
that he knows what is going on. We agreed that we will give him so much love,
beyond what we already shower him with daily. He will stay happy and live his
life the best he can.

We are going to
work with our holistic vet and use an eastern medicine regimen to slow
progression for as much and as long as we can. I realized that I should keep a
log of progress and success etc. and that is what has brought me here now to
tell Wiley's story. I forget how healing writing really can be.

A good friend
came over last night with a couple bottles of wine, an ear and a shoulder. It
was very cathartic. We followed it up today with a morning yoga class and then
an inversion with brain synchronization followed by an hour floating in an
isolation tank.Ahhh.

I am not done
grieving for my 3 1/2 yr. olds certain fate, by any means, but I must pull it
together and start getting that positive energy out there and into Wiley's
cells. I must visualize stopping those free radicals from destroying his
ability to run with us. I most focus on releasing the negative thoughts associated
with his condition and meditate on his nerve ends healing. Anger and despair is
not going to help Wiley. There is much research to be done including proper
exercise, diet and herbs. I owe this to him.

And so, with a
heavy heart our journey begins.

Dec. 5- My research has led me to believe that Wiley's condition could not be
DM, he is just too young and the onset was just too quick. I found a DNA test
through the Univ. of Missouri and ordered it.

It could be so many things though. Discospondylitis, Neoplasia, Thrombosis, Fibrocartilaginous, Polyarthropathies, Lumbo Sachral Disease......

Dec. 10- We do the mouth swab DNA test and send it back to the University for
the results.

Dec. 13-

John’s father,
Jacques, passes away.

We take a trip to
Florida and my friend Melanie stays at our home with our boy.

I spend every spare
moment manifesting Wiley’s healing, imagining his synapses connecting the
nerves speaking to each other, flowing from his feet to his brain. Firing and
snapping and working.

His friend Inde gave him a stuffed animal present upon our return. He tore it up quickly.

Dec. 25- There is no Christmas at the Brousseau ranch this year.We are both anxious for 2011 to be over.

Wiley begins to
have some random yelping when you touch around his ears or other random areas.

Jan. 13-Wiley
is definitely getting worse. You can't even go near him or even slightly touch
him today without him yelping in pain. He is stiff yet shaking, lots of heavy
breathing. I immediately called to get him back in to see the vet and got an appt.
for Monday the 16th. He continues to be very rigid and shake incessantly,
lots of heavy panting and he can't move his neck. He isn't interested in eating
his kibbles or bones or anything. These are the only pictures we have from when he was at his worst. We didn't really want to remember him like that, and only took these to share with the doc.

Jan. 14- DNA results arrive- NEGATIVE- that is a great relief of course but we
still have a very sick pup and no answers. We also just wasted almost 2 months
believing our dog had a terminal disease when we could have been trouble
shooting other options. Grrr. He is
still not interested in eating.

Jan. 16 -Vet apt again, Wiles appears to be in so much pain. He can’t lie down,
he is shaking and panting. He cries if you touch him. Wiley was very wound up at the doctors
office, and very stiff and shaky. He received a shot in the leg, and lots of
pain meds and prednisone, as well as an anti-biotic in case of a neck
infection. Wiley essentially walked in to the office but was unable to walk
out. This seemed a little too coincidental to us after the leg shot but we were
assured it truly was just a coincidence. Doc now thinks the issue is a neck
injury because he wouldn't turn his head or bend over for a treat. He
wants us to see his specialist friend for a neck X-ray.

Jan. 18-We take him in for the X-ray. The
techs tell us he is dehydrated. I realize that he hasn’t moved in the past
couple days and therefore hasn’t drank any water either.

Jan. 20- Still haven’t heard anything regarding xray. It has been a day and half
so I finally called and learned the X-ray didn't show anything. We are told
that our alternative is to go to Portland for a very expensive MRI and other
tests, or to put him down.

Jan. 24- These past days have just been horrible. Wiley is now essentially completely paralyzed. He is even unable to use
his front legs to lift himself up and drag himself around. We have to
physically move him from his spot in the living room back to the bedroom each
morning and night. Although he has become dehydrated, the prednisone and other
drugs are now making him pee everywhere and he also has been constipated and
didn’t poop for 4 days either. I have been working very hard at getting him
re-hydrated but I literally have to put the water to his mouth and make him
drink, same with food, he just can't move to get to it. No kibbles at all, only soft food, burger
and boiled chicken etc.

We have put tarps
down in our bedroom and living room, and got some puppy training pads to help.
Going to borrow a friends carpet cleaner too. We have demotedmany of our towels and are doing laundry
everyday.

He isn't sleeping
either the poor thing, with the constant shaking and heavy panting, and pain L

We begin to think
that this really is no quality of life. How much longer can we let him go on
like this?

Jan. 27-I
went to kiss him and he yelped. What kind of quality of life is this if I cannot
love my dog? We realize we may have a tough decision to make but it is not fair
to him to live like this. We decide to give it the weekend and on Monday we
will talk about what the right thing to do is.

Jan. 28- Wiley laid down! For the first time in weeks. He stopped shaking and
layed down!!!

I still have to
bring him his food and water but he doesn’t appear to be in such pain! This is
awesome stuff!

Feb. 1- Wiley came to me in a dream last night. He was running back up the
driveway toward me. He was running.I
know he is telling me not to give up on him. Don’t worry bud, not in a million
years. I believe in you. We can beat this.

Feb. 3. I am preparing Wiley’s morning food and I hear him shuffle. He got
himself up and brings himself right over to the kitchen for the first time in
weeks!He is using his front legs again and
dragging the back ones. He is not staying on his tarps and towels anymore either.

Feb. 5- He is back to eating on his own again and coming for food the second he hears you getting it ready. We gave him a box to put his dish on so he doesn’t have to bend over so far. He can even stand to eat if I help place his feet under him.

Feb. 14- He went outside today AND he peed and pooped outside! Happy Valentines
Day!

I am happy to say
that in the past couple weeks he has progressed marvelously. He can now use his
front legs again and has shown us his independence by dragging himself around
the house and not staying on his tarp beds. Last weekend he even brought me his
ball. Now he is able to stand and has begun walking again, although a bit like
a drunken sailor and after about 4 steps his legs collapse and get twisted. It
really appears to be his right leg that is causing all the problems. He is now
going to the door to be let out again which is wonderful but his poor paws are
taking a bloody beating getting dragged around. We are beginning to wind down
the prednisone and he is taking DiscusCompositum and Benefit Hip and Knees
Formula. I do believe he is improving every day, and I am leaning towards some
sort of spinal infection that the anti-biotic (Clavamox) helped to rid but we
still don't really know what is going on. The vet says he is boggled but isn't
attempting to really help us solve the problem. We would love for him to be
seen in our home in his natural state, rather than getting him all worked up to
take him some place. So I research and find a mobile vet and send him Wiley’s
story thus far. I ask for an appointment for someone to come and see him in his
habitat. The mobile doc only read my plea and suggested a different disease.
Lame.

Feb. 17- We have been hanging outside lots more, it is so nice to get fresh air with him again.

Feb. 25- We walked down the road a bit,
first walk since Jan. 10ish

Feb. 27- We walked the Circle!!!!He finished
his Prednisone.

Feb. 29- Snowstorm! Played out in the snow, it’s a leap year blizzard, and Wiley is psyched!

March 1- Relapse. Wiley is back to being
stiff, frozen, shaky and paralyzed. WTF!!!

Are you serious, we
were just playing in the snow.

I am not going back
to old vet. He hasn’t even called to check on Wiley. Our cat vet is awesome,
she makes lots of personal check up calls and I know she would be doing extra
homework to help us figure out what is wrong with Wiley. I ask some friends on Facebook for new vet
recommendations.

March 9 -We see our new Vet- Dr. Moles. He
takes a full set of x-rays since only the neck had been done previously. Nothing.
He reiterates that the only definitive way to find out is to take him to
Portland for an MRI. We just cant make this happen right now though.

We ask to put him
back on prednisone and clavamox to try and replicate exactly what we did
before. We think maybe it is an infection in his spine.

Mar 14- He is so sad again. Minou is sad too and decided to hang out with him on his bed.

After the first few weeks of being back on
the meds there is not a lot of change, like we experienced at the beginning of
Feb. We do another round of meds though
to not give up.

April 2- Hanging in the garage.

Wily has become the
incredible hulk in his front end from all the dragging he has done. We let him
outside a lot and he just lies in front of the house on guard. He can get
around on his own but needs help getting back up the stairs, we have to lift
his rear end up for him.

I am duct taping and shoe-gooing all his booties for extra endurance and lasting power. We have 10 pairs of destroyed shoes that I can stretch longer this way. Thanks to the Walk About Harness lady for sharing the tip!

John started doing
research and found a blueprint for a wheelchair cart via the Univeristy of
Louisville, a woman did her doctorate on canine biomechanics and developed a
blue print for making a good chair. We applied to the University for the rights
to use the blueprint.

John began finding
folks/companies to donate the needed parts.Lots of people came together to make it happen and 90% of the parts were
donated or discounted.

Thanks to Ruffwear,
Walk About Harness, United Pipe, Flex PVC, and our landlord Ed for
helping.

I begin a daily ritual with Wiley where we say thank you for his healing and spend a few moments being grateful for how he is doing.April 17- We have the first part of the chair complete.

May 6- Wiley's wheel chair complete. Drilling all the holes was the hardest part but John did a great job. Thanks to my friend Mary for helping to sew the straps on to the harnesses. Now for test runs and tweaks. I also make an appointment to see an animal physical therapist.

May 8- We went around the circle in his chair for the first time. He gets excited for our neighbors and Taylor helped to encourage him around. Gosh, we haven’t been up "there" in months.

May 14- Huge bout of diarrhea, I have never seen anything like it. Where does it all come from, how is this much possible and WHY? Ugh.

May 16

Kristen Wolter of Pawsitive Strides,
Animal PT ROCKS! I took Wiley to see an awesome animal physical therapist today.

She told me more about
what is going on with Wiley than either vet or x-ray has over the past 6 months.

She concludes that
it is likely a disc injury somewhere between T7-T10.

She provided a
dozen home exercises for us to do to provide stimulation etc. and also recommends
acupuncture. She assured me that he is not in pain. This is a huge relief.We are not aware of any accidents that Wiley has had and can't imagine how he got hurt. The only thing we can think of is a pretty crazy full speed collision he had last summer with a bull dog at the dog park. They were both running for balls at full speed and totally had a loud impact that turned everyone's heads. They got back up and resumed playing so we didn't think much more about it.

May 17- Happy 4th Birthday Wiley! We love you so much!
I remember my dream. I wonder if he will ever wag his tail again.
We continue with his home exercises.

June- We have been trying
out the chair a couple times per week for 10-20 mins at a time. Sometimes he
likes it, other times not so much. I often have to use treats as a lure.

We begin to swim at North Twin and Little Cultus Lakes a couple times, short bursts but he has leg movement in the water. He is definitely scared to go in very deep and doesn't trust his legs.

July 3 - Wily is getting around lots better these days. He has begun kicking
his back legs out of the back straps on his wheel chair.

July 12- Wiley is on the hunt! He is fixated on the chipmunk in the back stump,
like old times.

Wiley is walking
drunken sailor style again! It is great to have him back! His attitude
continues to improve everyday too. He is more and more like himself.

Sadly, he falls
down every poop as soon as he tries to get into “position”. Lots and lots of
baths. He still has accidents in the house but they are fewer and fewer apart.
He does not have any sort of schedule though so I often hear him fidget in the
night and we get up so he can go out. I have not slept through the night since this all began. It is good prep for a baby I suppose.

July 23- I found this sign at a thrift store when I was in Maine back in November and John decided it was time to hang it up. Wiley is back on duty!

August 8- He still hunting for that chipmunk.

No more booties and no more chair!

Continued
improvement everyday, he does not want to go in his chair anymore. His walking is
so awesome, very deliberate and sorta stompy but we will take it! No more booties!! We are not sad to put the chair away, the
goal was for him to improve enough not to need it anyway. I begin to bring him
to work with me again when I can. We try to get to the lake when we can for him to swim.

I also realize I
can’t just let him out anymore. He has found a new freedom and lets his nose
lead the way. I found him laying on our neighbors back porch looking into his
house the other day. Also if he hears Ed next door or his mini poodle Reggie, he is gone around
his fence in an instant. Ho hum. It is hard to be mad at him, but his listening
skills have definitely been turned off.

Aug. 20- We walk the circle, without his chair, for the first time since February!

Sept. 3- Kayaking! We take Wiley out to Hosmer Lake and he does awesome as John's copilot!

Sept. 6- He has rediscovered his egg and balls again. He wants to play!

Sept. 9- Camping! Our first
and only camping trip of the season.

We hike around the
lake, he is tired, it is the farthest he has gone since this all began.

Oct. 5-

I take Wiley for his first Acupuncture
treatment. He behaves really well.

John sees
improvement in his attitude/usual self.

We are now walking the circle
on a daily basis :)

Nov. 4 I return from a week away in Portland and notice Wiley’s tail is wagging a
lot more and a lot higherJ

We begin to walk
several times down to the mailbox and back around on the trail for the first time in a whole year.

Nov. 16

Second Acupuncture
treatment.

Nov. 21

He is so freakin awesome!

December- December brought us more improvements and more wagging. He is playing lots, loving on pine cones, playing in the snow and with his beloved egg.

He is making it
through the night a lot more often. I even made it a whole week in a row
without having to get up.He is less
deliberate in his steps and not falling down when pooping nearly as much. He has
developed a pretty good walk-n-poop system.

He has also adapted
to running quite well. He is quick. There was a point during all this where we
didn’t have to worry about him getting away from us in regards to traffic etc.
Not anymore, when he is off, he is off.

He hardly has a
flipped paw anymore, although he may still stand with his back legs in a
seemingly awkward position, and will have a slight drag every few steps. He can get up the steps on his own again. We still have to lift him in and out of our trucks though. Further, he may have to stay on prednisone forever. I am scared to take him off and have another relapse. I have some research to do and we will reconvene with our vet soon to discuss the future.

He has a very healthy
appetite, and is back to all his old ways and he even brought some new ones
with him too! He is very lovey-dovey, gives lots of kisses again and follows me
around everywhere. It was so sad when he didn’t follow me to the next room.

Now, I can not even tell
John it is dinner time without Wiley going crazy, same thing if we get excited
or celebrate anything with a “yay”, or hands clapping. Wiley gets excited too!

Our dog is back and
he is doing great! With love and patience and persistence we made it through
even though we were told we should give up and put him down.A clear
indicator of why we need to be our own health advocates, do our own research
and not listen to those first opinions, whether dealing with our own health, our
children, our aging parents, or our beloved pets.

Wiley and I still say thank you every morning and spend a moment being grateful for his healing.